Fifteen scholarships are available for students, and and five for community members. Scholarships will be awarded based on applicant’s experience, service, and desire to provide health service and/or promote access and the continuation of quality health care to the rural population of West Virginia.

Given the massive health care challenges the state is wrestling with in 2017, it is vitally important that the conversation about health care in West Virginia involve as many people as possible, and include a broad array of experiences, knowledge and viewpoints.

The loss of good paying jobs in the state and a critical shortage of healthcare providers has created a ‘perfect storm’ that has hit West Virginia very hard.

It’s critically important that students and community members are involved in shaping health solutions, and so we absolutely must have them at the table.

The rural health conference in October will dive head-first into some of our most urgent issues, including the future of Medicaid, opioid addiction and recovery, what health reform might look like in rural communities, and behavioural health management.

But if West Virginia was to successfully navigate this perilous year for the health of people in this state, ideas and solutions will have to come from a wide range of West Virginians.

That’s why the West Virginia Rural Health Association provides these scholarships. It’s critically important that students and community members are involved in shaping these health solutions, and so we absolutely must have them at the table.

The West Virginia Rural Health Association advocates for empowering all West Virginians to advance their quality of life, their well-being and their access to excellence in rural health care. Its mission is to unite people, communities and organizations to strengthen rural health in West Virginia.